Tracker tag with dual-purpose antenna components

ABSTRACT

Tracker tags, smart tags, locator tags, and the like are provided. A portable tracker device, according to one implementation, includes a housing having a front cover and a back cover. The portable tracker device also includes Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry configured to operate within at least one of a Bluetooth (BT) frequency range and an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequency range. Also, the portable tracker device includes a piezoelectric device having a first conductive plate and a second conductive plate. The RF circuitry utilizes at least one of the front cover, the back cover, the first conductive plate, and the second conductive plate as one or more antennas.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to location tracking systems.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to the construction oftracker tags, whereby certain components of the tracker tags double asUltra-Wideband (UWB) and Bluetooth antennas.

BACKGROUND

Recently, tracker tags (also known as locator tags, smart tags, etc.)have become popular consumer electronic devices. For example, manycompanies (e.g., Apple, Samsung, Tile, among others) have createddifferent types of tracker tags having different functionality. Thepurpose of tracker tags is to help users find objects to which thetracker tags are attached.

On the outside, tracker tags appear like classical key chain fobs. Theyare small (e.g., about the size of a token or coin) and can be attachedto key chains, backpacks, purses, pet collars, etc. using a key ring,for example, and can also be attached to TV remotes, garage dooropeners, etc. using tape or other adhesive material. Tracker tags havewireless capabilities to enable pairing with another wireless consumerdevice (e.g., smart phone, laptop computer, pod device, etc.). Thiswireless link between the tracker tag and smart phone allows for thetracker tag to be tracked down and located, thereby allowing a user tofind her belongings if they are lost or misplaced. Depending on theparticular design of the tracker tag, the user can use the trackingsystem to find the tracker tag if it is within a certain area (e.g.,within Bluetooth range, within a house or room, near the smart phone,etc.).

As with any type of wireless device, the wireless capabilities of thedevice require one or more antennas. One particular issue with smalltracker tags (or other small wireless devices) is that the size (e.g.,length) of an antenna for communication at high frequencies (e.g.,Bluetooth range, Ultra-Wideband range, etc.) is limited by the size oftracker tag. Typical tracker tags are designed with a plastic casing toallow for better antenna performance and use chip antennas or PCBantennas. Also, designs of typical tracker tags normally must dedicate arelatively large amount of volume (space) for these antennas. It can bechallenging to design and integrate one or more antennas into thesetracker tags, especially since consumers prefer that these devices havea small size. In addition, these antennas normally have low performanceas they typically rely on ground currents running through a PCB which issmall. That is, a smaller antenna volume results in less antennaefficiency/performance.

Therefore, there is a need in the field of tracker tags and other smallwireless consumer devices to overcome the issues that arise with thedesign of antennas within a small volume. The embodiments of the presentdisclosure, as described below, overcome many of these known antennaissues prevalent in conventional consumer products.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to tracking or locating systems forenabling a user to find missing objects. When a tracker tag is attachedto an item that the user wishes to locate, the user may utilize asuitable application on a wireless “searching” device (e.g., mobilephone) for communicating with the tracker tag. Various functions may beperformed by the wireless searching device for directing the user to thelocation of the tracker tag. More particularly, the present disclosureis directed to antenna assemblies of these tracker tags. The antennaassemblies may include components of tracker tags that have otherpurposes. In this way, these dual-purpose components are configured todouble as antenna components.

A portable tracker device (e.g., tracker tag), according to oneimplementation, includes a housing having a front cover and a backcover. The portable tracker device also includes Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry configured to operate within at least one of a Bluetooth (BT)frequency range and an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequency range. Also, theportable tracker device includes a piezoelectric device having a firstconductive plate and a second conductive plate. In operation, the RFcircuitry utilizes at least one of the front cover, the back cover, thefirst conductive plate, and the second conductive plate as one or moreantennas.

In some embodiments, the piezoelectric device of the above-describedportable tracker device may further include a dielectric plate orientedbetween the first and second conductive plates. The piezoelectric devicemay therefore be configured as a buzzer or speaker for creating anaudible signal to reveal the location of the portable tracker device.

The back cover of the housing, according to some embodiments, mayinclude a conductive material and may be configured as a first antennaof the one or more antennas, whereby the RF circuitry may be configuredto use the first antenna for BT communication. The second conductiveplate of the piezoelectric device may be positioned adjacent to thefront cover of the housing and may be configured as a second antenna ofthe one or more antennas, whereby the RF circuitry may be furtherconfigured to use the second antenna for UWB communication. In someembodiments, the front cover of the housing may include a conductivematerial and may be connected directly to the second conductive plate ofthe piezoelectric device.

Also, the portable tracker device may include a UWB switch and adiplexer. The UWB switch may be configured to receive a UWB feed fromthe RF circuitry and create first and second UWB feeds. The first UWBfeed may be provided to the diplexer and the second UWB feed may beprovided to the second conductive plate of the piezoelectric device.Also, the diplexer may be configured to receive a BT feed from the RFcircuitry and the first UWB feed from the UWB switch to thereby create amixed feed that is provided to the back cover of the housing.

The portable tracker device, in some implementations, may furtherinclude a piezoelectric driver in electrical communication with thefirst conductive plate and the second conductive plate of thepiezoelectric device. The piezoelectric driver may be configured toprovide signal pulses for driving the piezoelectric device. Also, theportable tracker device may include a battery configured to providepower to the RF circuitry and the piezoelectric driver. The portabletracker device may also include first and second inductors, where thefirst inductor is configured to substantially isolate RF signals of thefirst conductive plate from audio signals of the piezoelectric driver,and where the second inductor is configured to substantially isolate RFsignals of the second conductive plate from the audio signals of thepiezoelectric driver.

At least one of the front cover, the back cover, the first conductiveplate, and the second conductive plate being used as the one or moreantennas may be configured without any dedicated antenna structure. Inother words, the antenna components are not dedicated components, butare derived from the components that already exist in the portabletracker device, where these components serve a dual purpose.

According to some implementations, the portable tracker device mayfurther include feed matching circuitry and short matching circuitry.The feed matching circuitry may be configured for matching BT and UWBfrequencies with the one or more antennas. The short matching circuitrymay be configured for matching the one or more antennas to ground. Theportable tracker device may also include first and second capacitors,where the first capacitor may be configured for substantially isolatingaudio frequency signals of the first conductive plate from the shortmatching circuitry and the second capacitor may be configured forsubstantially isolating audio frequency signals of the second conductiveplate from the feed matching circuitry.

The back cover of the housing, in some cases, may include a conductivematerial and may be oriented in parallel with the second conductiveplate of the piezoelectric device to form a Yagi-type antenna. Inaddition, the portable tracker device may include a battery and abattery holder, where the battery may be configured to provide power tothe RF circuitry. The battery holder, for example, may be configured tosupport the battery as well as one or more layers of conductive andnon-conductive plates separating the battery from the back cover. Insome embodiments, one or more of the front cover and back cover mayinclude a non-conductive material and a) a Laser Direct Structuring(LDS) conductive pattern, b) conductive tape, and/or c) a conductivetrace formed on the non-conductive material. The portable tracker devicemay further include one or more pogo pins configured to enableelectrical communication between the RF circuitry and the one or moreantennas.

An antenna assembly, according to some implementations, may include atleast one a front cover and a back cover of a housing of a portableelectronic device and may further include at least one of a firstconductive plate and a second conductive plate of a piezoelectric device(e.g., which may be incorporated in the portable electronic device). AnRF circuit (e.g., which may be incorporated in the portable electronicdevice) may be configured to operate within at least one of theBluetooth (BT) frequency range and the UWB frequency range and may beconfigured to utilize at least one of the front cover, the back cover,the first conductive plate, and the second conductive plate as one ormore antennas.

A locating system, according to some implementations, may include one ormore tracker tags and one or more searching devices. Each of the one ormore tracker tags may include a housing having a front cover and a backcover and RF circuitry configured to operate within at least one of theBluetooth (BT) frequency range and the UWB frequency range. Each trackertag may also include a piezoelectric device having a first conductiveplate and a second conductive plate. The RF circuitry may be configuredto utilize at least one of the front cover, the back cover, the firstconductive plate, and the second conductive plate as one or moreantennas. Each of the one or more searching devices may be configured tolocate the one or more tracker tags using one or more of BTcommunication and UWB communication with the one or more tracker tags.In some embodiments, each of the one or more tracker tags may includemeans for attachment to an item to be tracked. Also, each of the one ormore searching devices may be a smart phone, a pod device, or a laptopcomputer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated and described herein withreference to the various drawings. Like reference numbers are used todenote like components/steps, as appropriate. Unless otherwise noted,components depicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a perspective view of a pair of trackertags, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a location tracking system,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exploded side view of theconstruction of a tracking tag, according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating a portion of the trackingtag of FIG. 3 that includes a piezoelectric circuit and related antenna,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating a portion of the trackingtag of FIG. 3 that includes a housing cover and a related antenna,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5C are diagrams illustrating cross-sectional side views of thebattery holder shown in FIG. 3 , according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating cross-sectional side views ofthe cover shown in FIG. 3 , according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating cross-sectional side views ofthe piezoelectric device shown in FIG. 3 , according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating the portion of the trackingtag shown in FIG. 4A and relative electrical currents of the antennaassociated with the piezoelectric device, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram illustrating the portion of the trackingtag shown in FIG. 4B and relative electrical currents of the antennaassociated with the housing cover, according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exploded perspective view of thetracking tag of FIG. 3 , according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a partial view of pogo pins forcontacting the antennas of the tracking tag of FIG. 3 , according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a front view of various parts of thetracking tag of FIG. 3 , according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 12 is another diagram illustrating a front view of various parts ofthe tracking tag of FIG. 3 , according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to tracking/locating systems. Inparticular, the tracking systems described in the present disclosure areconfigured for use with Radio Frequency (RF) communication, such asBluetooth (BT) frequency communication and/or Ultra-Wideband (UWB)frequency communication. Also, tracker tags (e.g., also known as locatortags, smart tags, etc.) may include BT and/or UWB functionality and maybe configured to communicate with a wireless device (e.g., mobile phone,smart phone, pod, tablet, laptop computer, etc.). In this respect, auser may utilize the wireless device to track or locate the trackertags, particular if an item (e.g., key chain, backpack, purse, wallet,pet collar, etc.), which has a tracker tag attached thereon, ismisplaced or lost. Thus, the tracking systems can assist the user withfinding the lost items.

In some embodiments, the tracker tag may be equipment with suitablecircuitry and antenna structures to communicate in both the BT and UWBfrequency ranges. Thus, the tracker tag and “searching” device (e.g.,smart phone) may use both BT and UWB to enable the tracking or locatingprocess. For example, BT may be used to help the user find a room (e.g.,of a house) in which the item is lost. After this, the system mayutilize UWB to pinpoint the exact location with greater resolution. Anexample of a use case may be a situation where a user has attached atracker tag on a keychain. Then, when the user loses her keys (e.g., inthe sofa seats, in her purse, in the car, behind the dresser, on thebathroom sink, in the pocket of her dirty jeans, etc.), the searchingdevice can be utilized (if this has not been lost too) to help herreunite with her keys.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the tracker tagcan be manufactured with a very small form factor. In some embodiments,the tracker tag may be configured to hold a replaceable battery (e.g.,coin-sized 3V battery, such as CR2032, or the like). In someembodiments, the tracker tag may use less power than conventionaltracker tags. For example, to achieve the small size, the embodiments ofthe present disclosure may reuse components of the tracker tag for theantennas.

Using UWB allows very accurate location, while BT allows for longerrange. By using both, the tracker tag can be located from a longdistance, and then more precisely as the user comes closer to thetracker tag. Making the tracker tag as small as possible is a featurethat is usually desirable for many customers. Making the UWB antennasmall is made additionally difficult by the wide bandwidth andmulti-band operation that is normally required.

While conventional tracker tags may use separate antennas for UWB and BTcommunication and may use dedicated space within the device for eachantenna, the embodiments of the present disclosure, on the other hand,use the existing components within the tracker tags, where theseexisting components have functionality for purposes other than thoseassociated with antennas or wireless communication. For example, theembodiments described herein may utilize parts of the housing itselfand/or a piezoelectric device (e.g., buzzer, speaker, etc.) containedwithin the housing.

In some cases, the antennas may include antennas formed on a PrintedCircuit Board (PCB). For example, antenna traces may be formed on aglass-reinforced epoxy laminate material (e.g., Flame-Retardant (FR)material, such as FR-4). The antenna may then have to share space withother electrical components, radio components, Integrated Circuits(ICs), other conductive traces, etc. on the PCB. In some cases, the PCBmay include Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) for forming traces (e.g.,antenna patterns) on the board. For example, LDS may refer to theprocess of applying electronic conductive paths or traces directly ontonon-conductive parts or materials during manufacturing. The LDS allowconductive patterns within small packages, such as tracker tags, wherethe geometric spaces are dependent on the particular shape or formfactor of the small portable device.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the features of thepresent disclosure in order that the detailed description may be betterunderstood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may bebetter appreciated. There are additional features of the variousembodiments that will be described herein. It is to be understood thatthe present disclosure is not limited to the details of construction andto the arrangements of the components set forth in the followingdescription or illustrated in the drawings. Rather, the embodiments ofthe present disclosure may be capable of other implementations andconfigurations and may be practiced or carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed are for the purpose of description and should not be regardedas limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventiveconception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilizedas a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systemsfor carrying out the several purposes described in the presentdisclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that theembodiments may include various equivalent constructions insofar as theydo not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will beapparent from the following detailed description of exemplaryembodiments which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a pair of tracker tags 10, 12, where thefront cover 14 of the first tracker tag 10 is visible in FIG. 1 and theback cover 16 of the second tracker tag 12 is visible. It should benoted that the tracker tags 10, 12 may include the same configuration ordesign. The front cover 14 includes an opening 18 and the back cover 16also includes an opening 20. When the front cover 14 and back cover 16are connected together (e.g., by snapping interlocking elementstogether), the openings 18, 20 allow one or both of the tracker tags 10,12 to attached to a key ring, a ring binder, a carabiner, a snapelement, a clip element, a loop element, or other similar devices. Whenconnected together to form a single unit, the tracker tag 10, 12 may bewaterproof or water resistant. In this way, the tracker tags 10, 12 canbe attached to various types of items that a user may wish to track.

To design an efficient antenna for use with the tracker tags 10, 12 orother similarly-sized tracking/locating device, the size of the antennamay be a whole wavelength, one half of a wavelength, or one fourth of awavelength at the frequency of operation. For example, Bluetooth (BT)communication may include Wi-Fi operation at a number of channels withina frequency range of about 2.40 GHz to about 2.48 GHz, which correspondsto a wavelength of about 120 mm. For UWB, the channel 5 wavelength iswithin a frequency range of about 6.25 GHz to about 6.75 GHz andcentered around 6.50 GHz (e.g., a wavelength of about 46 mm). Forchannel 9 UWB, the frequency range is about 7.75 GHz to about 8.25 GHz,centered at about 8.00 GHz. Some tracker tags (e.g., tracker tags 10,12) may vary in diameter from about 32 mm to 43 mm and may vary inthickness from about 6 mm to 12 mm. They could be wider and/or thicker,but smaller ones are more popular with consumers. It may be noted thatentire BT bandwidth is only about 80 MHz, while the UWB bandwidth isabout 500 MHz for each channel, for a total of 1.0 GHz if two UWB setsof signals are used (i.e., channels 5 and 9).

The size of larger tracker tags cannot normally provide the minimumrequired volume to pack an antenna, even when considering the size ofone fourth of the wavelength of BT (i.e., 120 mm/4=30 mm). In additionto packing an antenna into the product, it is necessary to allot somevolume for an antenna carrier (e.g., PCB antenna, FR-4 antenna, etc.) orplastic carrier (e.g., LDS-type antennas), as well as to clear volume ofnearby components and ground. Because of the shortage of volume in mosttracker tags, antennas may be miniaturized by meandering antennapatterns, loading it with plastic carrier (e.g., in LDS-type antennas),loading it with high dielectric ceramics (e.g., chip antennas, etc.), ormy other techniques. However, this miniaturization may result in thesignificant degradation of antenna performance.

In some embodiments, antennas may be designed for UWB (channel 5)operation at one quarter wavelength of about 12 mm (i.e., 46 mm/4 isabout 12 mm), which should theoretically fit into a product three timesbigger. However, due to UWB's high bandwidth requirement (500 MHz),these antennas need to be wideband, which translates to much biggerantennas (i.e., bigger antenna size results in greater bandwidth).Hence, packing UWB into a tracker tag (e.g., tracker tags 10, 12) can bea challenge. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure providesolutions to overcome these obstacles.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a locationtracking system 30 (or locating system). The location tracking system30, according to various embodiments, may include one or more trackertags 10, 12 and one or more “searching devices.” For example, a firsttype of searching device 32 may be a mobile device (e.g., smart phone,portable tablet device, laptop computer, etc.) and a second type ofsearching device 34 may be a device that is removably inserted in anelectrical outlet 36 and/or attached to another type of power supply,which may be part of a home, office, building, etc.

Each of the one or more tracker tags 10, 12 may include a housing havinga front cover 14 and a back cover 16. Each tracker tag 10, 12 may alsoinclude internal components (not shown in FIG. 2 ), such as RadioFrequency (RF) circuitry configured to operate within at least one of aBluetooth (BT) frequency range and an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequencyrange. The internal components may also include a piezoelectric device(e.g., buzzer, speaker) having a first conductive plate and a secondconductive plate. The RF circuitry, according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure, is configured to utilize at least one of thefront cover 14, the back cover 16, the first conductive plate (not shownin FIG. 2 ), and the second conductive plate (not shown in FIG. 2 ) asone or more antennas. Each of the one or more searching devices 32, 34may be configured to locate the one or more tracker tags 10, 12 usingone or more of BT communication and UWB communication with the one ormore tracker tags 10, 12.

In addition, the location tracking system 30, in some embodiments, mayutilize cell phone towers, satellites, etc. for communication. Each ofthe one or more tracker tags 10, 12 may include means for attachment toan item to be tracked, such as the openings 18, 20, adhesive, tape, hookand loop elements (e.g., Velcro), or other suitable attachment means.Again, each of the one or more searching devices 32, 34 may be a smartphone 32, a pod device 34, a laptop computer, or other suitable wirelesscommunication device, each searching device operating independently tofind/locate one or multiple tracker tags (e.g., tracker tags 10, 12).

With the location tracking system 30 of the present disclosure, it ispossible to track down and locate items that may easily get lost ormisplaced, such as keys, backpacks, wallet, TV remote control, etc. Eachof the tracker tags 10, 12 can individually be attached any such itemsto help with retrieving the items by use of the searching devices 32,34. In some embodiments, the tracker tag 10, 12 may include a buzzer,speaker, or other audio output mechanism, whereby, when the searchingdevice 32, 34 is triggered (e.g., by pressing a button on the device orin an app), BT and/or UWB communication links with the tracker tag 10,12 and the tracker tag 10, 12 may then produce a sound (e.g., buzzingsound, beeping sound, verbal sounds, etc.), which can then steer theuser to the right location. In some cases, the audio system (of eitherthe tracker tag 10, 12 or searching device 32, 34) may change the tone,volume, etc. of an audio output as the user moves nearer to the lostitem.

In some embodiments, the location tracking system 30 may includefunctionality to allow the detection of the distance between thesearching device 32, 34 and the tracker tag 10, 12. This distanceinformation can be communicated to the user (e.g., displayed on a screenof the smart phone 32, etc.). Also, some embodiments may allowdirectional detection to point the user in the right direction to findthe item, which may utilize the UWG communication technology. Accordingto some implementations, the location tracking system 30 may allow thetracking functionality even when the various devices (e.g., tracker tags10, 12, searching devices 32, 34) are offline.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a tracker tag 40 (e.g., tracker tag 10, 12or other tracker tags). The construction is shown in an exploded sideview in FIG. 3 . In this embodiment, the tracker tag 40 includes ahousing including at least a front cover 42 (shown at the bottom of FIG.3 ) and a back cover 44 (shown at the top of FIG. 3 ). Similar to thefront cover 14 and back cover 16 in FIG. 1 , the front and back covers42, 44 of the tracker tag 40 of FIG. 3 may be configured to snaptogether, which may include a construction to prevent water or otherelements from getting into an interior of the housing. For example, thefront and back covers 42, 44 may include snap-together features (e.g.,tabs, pockets, etc.) for allowing the pieces to be connected together.These snap-together features may also allow the opening of the housingto enable a user to replace a battery when necessary.

In addition, the tracker tag 40, as illustrated, includes a batterysection 46, a circuitry section 48, and a piezo section 50.Specifically, the battery section 46 as shown includes a firstnon-conductive (non-metallic) spacer 52, a conductive shield 54, asecond non-conductive spacer 56, and a battery 58. In some embodiments,the first and second non-conductive spacers 52, 56 may be omitted suchthat a first gap is formed between the back cover 44 and the conductiveshield 54 and a second gap is formed between the conductive shield 54and the battery 58. The battery 58 may be a replaceable 3V coin-typebattery (e.g., CR2032).

The circuitry section 48 of the tracker tag 40 includes a PrintedCircuit Board (PCB) 60 (e.g., RF board, card, board, etc.). In somealternative embodiments, the PCB 60 may be replaced with a Laser DirectStructuring (LDS) device, such as to conform to available space withinthe interior of the housing. A BT radio 62, UWB radio 64, andpiezoelectric driver 66 may be positioned on either side of the PCB 60.For simplicity in the figure, the BT radio 62 is shown on a back side ofthe PCB 60 (i.e., top side of the PCB 60 as shown in FIG. 3 ) and theUWB radio 64 and piezoelectric driver 66 are shown on the front side ofthe PCB 60, but it should be understood that the components 62, 64, 66may be either side in any combination.

The circuitry section 48 further includes inductors 68, 70 for choking(e.g., isolating, suppressing, blocking) high frequencies and capacitors72, 74 for blocking low frequencies (or DC). The circuitry section 48also includes a BT feed matching circuit 76 and a short matching circuit78 for enabling BT communication via a first antenna. The circuitrysection 48 also includes a UWB feed matching circuit 80 and a UWB shortmatching circuit 82 for enabling UWB communication via a second antenna.In some embodiments, the circuitry section 48 may also include adiplexer 84 and a UWB switch 86, which allow UWB communication on bothantennas for operation in diversity and/or Angle of Arrival (AOA) modes.The components 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86 may be connectedto or formed on the PCB 60.

The piezo section 50 of the tracker tag 40 includes a piezoelectricdevice 88, which may include a first conductive (e.g., metallic) plate90, a second conductive (e.g., metallic) plate 92, and a non-conductive(e.g., dielectric) plate 94 sandwiched between the two conductive plates90, 92.

The BT feed matching circuit 76 and short matching circuit 78 areconfigured between the BT radio 62 and the back cover 44 for matchingimpedance characteristics of the BT signals with the back cover 44 toenable efficient transfer of power from the BT radio 62 to the backcover 44. In this respect, the back cover 44 may include conductivematerial (partially or fully) and act as a BT antenna. In someembodiments, the back cover 44 may include a non-conductive materialwith conductive elements formed thereon acting as the antenna.

Also, the UWB feed matching circuit 80 is configured between the UWBradio 64 and the second conductive plate 92 of the piezoelectric device88. The UWB short matching circuit 82 is configured between the UWBradio 64 or PCB 60 and the first conductive plate 90 of thepiezoelectric device 88. With respect to embodiments in which two UWBsignals are provided to two different antennas, so as to enablediversity and/or AOA modes, the UWB feed matching circuit 80 may beconnected to the UWB switch 86, which in turn is connected to the UWBradio 64. In this arrangement, the UWB switch 86 is also connected tothe diplexer 84. The diplexer 84 is configured to enable BT signals andUWB signals to be communicated to the back cover 44. For example, thediplexer 84 may be configured to implement frequency-domain multiplexingwhere a first (lower frequency) port receives a BT feed from the BTradio 62 and a second (higher frequency) port receives a UWB feed fromthe UWB radio 64 (via UWB switch 86). These two ports of the diplexer 84are combined or multiplexed onto a third port for exciting the firstantenna (e.g., back cover 44). Since BT and UWB occupy differentfrequency bands, the BT and UWB signals can exist on the output portwithout interfering with each other.

Therefore, the embodiments of the of tracker tag 40 may include a firstmode of operation where a single frequency band is utilized (e.g.,either BT or UWB), a second mode of operation where two frequency bands(e.g., BT and UWB) are utilized on two different antennas, a third modeof operation where BT and a first UWB signal is utilized on a firstantenna and a second UWB signal is utilized on a second antenna, afourth mode of operation where UWB and a first BT signal is utilized ona first antenna and a second BT signal is utilized on a second antenna,or other various combinations of BT and UWB utilization on one or moreantennas. It may be noted that the BT radio 62 may be configured to feedBT signals to one or both of the antennas (e.g., back cover 44 and thesecond conductive plate 92 of the piezoelectric device 88) and that theUWB radio 64 may be configured to feed UWB signals to one or both of theantennas (e.g., back cover 44 and second conductive plate 92).Therefore, the BT radio 62 and UWB radio 64 can be switched with respectto the illustrated arrangement shown in FIG. 3 .

As such, the BT and UWB antennas are designed to be fully incorporatedor embedded in the already existing parts of the tracker tag 40. Thus,the back cover 44, which normally acts as part of housing for protectingthe internal components of the tracker tag 40, may already be configuredwith conductive elements and may therefore be used as the first antenna.Also, the second conductive plate 92 of the piezoelectric device 88,which may typically be used for producing sound (or noise), can also beused as a second antenna. With the matching circuits 76, 78, 80, 82,these elements can double as antennas. In other words, they aredual-purpose devices for carrying out their regular duties, plus can beutilized as BT and/or UWB antennas. In some embodiments, thepiezoelectric device 88 can be used for UWB and the back cover 44 can beused for BT. However, as suggested above, these roles may be combined,reversed, etc.

The back cover 44 may be metallic and may include aesthetic or cosmeticfeatures. In some embodiments, the battery section 46 may includelayered non-conductive and conducive spacers 52, 54, 56 or gaps. Theseelements 52, 54, 56 may be used in configurations such that additionalparts are not needed to create antennas. The tracker tag 40 includes anovel antenna design to support a BT antenna and two UWB antennas (e.g.,diversity and/or for angle of arrival).

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of anelectrical circuit 100 that includes a portion of the tracking tag 40 ofFIG. 3 . In this embodiment, the electrical circuit 100 includes thepiezoelectric section 50 and the portion of the circuitry section 48related to UWB communication. As illustrated, the piezoelectric driver66 is implemented as a pulse wave generator for providing pulse signalsto the first and second conductive plates 90, 92 of the piezoelectricdevice 88. Also, the UWB radio 64 is implemented in this embodiment as asinusoidal wave generator for providing UWB radio signals through thefeed matching circuit 80 and DC blocking capacitor 74 to the secondconductive plate 92, which may be positioned adjacent to the front cover42. In some embodiments, the UWB radio signals may pass through the UWBswitch 86 (not shown in FIG. 4A). UWB radio signals include a returnpath through the dielectric plate 94 (with a capacitance), through thefirst conductive plate 90, through the DC blocking capacitor 72, throughthe short matching circuit 82, and finally back to the ground terminalof the RF board 60. It should be noted that the high-frequency-blockinginductor (or choke) 70 substantially blocks this return signal pathgoing to the piezoelectric driver 66.

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of anelectrical circuit 110 that includes a portion of the tracking tag 40 ofFIG. 3 . In this embodiments, the electrical circuit 110 includes theback cover 44 and the portion of the circuitry section 48 related to BTcommunication. As illustrated, the BT radio 62 is implemented as asinusoidal wave generator for providing BT radio signals through the BTfeed matching circuit 76 to the back cover 44, which includes conductiveantenna structure for wireless transmission. The return signal isprovided through the short matching circuit 78 and back to the groundterminal of the RF board 60.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 4A and 4B, two antennas are arranged onopposite sides of the common ground of the RF board 60. The UWB antennain this embodiment includes parallel plates with a dielectric inbetween. RF choke and DC blocks are leveraged to allow for simultaneousoperation of UWB transmission and audio (e.g., buzzing) piezoelectricaction.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the trackertag 40 may have metallic (as opposed to plastic) top and bottom covers.In some embodiments, the covers may be fully metallic and still containantennas that radiate outside the housing. The embodiments may use apiezoelectric system as part of one or more antennas. The tracker tag 40may use UWB only, BT only, or a combination of both BT and UWB. The pathof antenna currents goes to one plate on one side of the dielectricplate 94 of the piezoelectric element 88 then capacitively couplesthrough the dielectric plate 94 to a second metal plate (e.g., firstconductive plate 90) on the other side of the piezoelectric element 88.The chokes 68, 70 are used to isolate the RF antenna signals from theaudio frequency piezoelectric driver 66.

Tuning elements in the UWB feed matching circuit 80 are used to get thepiezo-based antenna to resonate at the right frequencies. A shortingconnection (e.g., including the UWB short matching circuit 82) is usedto help tune the piezo-based antenna. The shorting connection mayinclude the blocking capacitor 72 to allow the RF signals to pass, butblock the audio frequency (lower frequency) piezo signal. This shortingconnection may have tuning elements (e.g., UWB short matching circuit82). The positioning of the short may be adjusted to tune the antenna.

In some embodiments, the housing (e.g., front cover 42 and back cover44) may be an external metal case. In some embodiments, the front cover42 can be connected directly to the second conductive plate 92 of thepiezoelectric element 88. In other embodiments, the metal case can beisolated from the conductive plate 92 by non-conducting material. Inthis case, the metal housing can operate as a parasitic element,somewhat like the operation of a Yagi antenna.

According to various embodiments, the front cover 42 and/or back cover44 may act as the BT antenna, such as by reversing the position of thefront cover 42 and back cover 44 as shown in FIG. 3 . Tuning of the backcover 44 is done with a short that is placed at the correct distancefrom the RF feed (e.g., BT radio 62 and BT feed matching circuit 76) tothe back cover 44. Thus, the shorts and feeds may each have tuningelements. The back cover 44 may be isolated from battery by a metallicspacer 54. The metallic spacer 54 operates as a reflector to reducecurrents on the battery 58 as a result of RF signals transmitted fromthe back cover 44.

In some embodiments, the feed paths may be accomplished with the use ofspring loaded pogo pins, spring clips, solder connections, and othersuitable elements. Radiation patterns may be concentrated on the edgesof the plates, which can minimize the effect as a user holding the tagwith his or her fingers. The tracker tag 40 may include feeds close tothe edges to help radiating currents travel around the edges. In someembodiments, a casing of the battery 58 can be used as a radiatingelement, according to further design implementations.

Also, the embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4A, and 4B may include certainfeatures and alternatives. For example, the BT and/or UWB antennas maybe fully embedded in already existing parts of the tracker tag 40. Inparticular, the piezoelectric element 88 may be used for UWB and/or BT.The front cover 42 and back cover 44 may include conductive (e.g.,metallic) material on or in all or part of the housing pieces. In somecases, the covers 42, 44 may include aesthetic or cosmetic features,logos, etc. The covers 42, 44 may include layers of conductive andnon-conductive plates and/or conductive and non-conductive gaps/spacers.Some parts can be used in some configurations without the need toinclude additional parts to create antennas.

The present disclosure therefore provides various embodiments that areable to enable UWB and/or BT communication using already existing partsof a tracker tag. A portable tracker device, according to someimplementations, may include a housing having a front cover and a backcover. The portable tracker device may also include Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry configured to operate within at least one of a Bluetooth (BT)frequency range and an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequency range. Also, theportable tracker device may include a piezoelectric device having afirst conductive plate and a second conductive plate. The RF circuitryis configured to utilize at least one of the front cover, the backcover, the first conductive plate, and the second conductive plate asone or more antennas. In some implementations, the piezoelectric devicemay further include a dielectric plate oriented between the first andsecond conductive plates. Also, the piezoelectric device may beconfigured as a buzzer or speaker for creating an audible signal toreveal the location of the portable tracker device.

In some embodiments, the back cover of the housing of the portabletracker device may include a conductive material, such that the backcover is configured as a first antenna of the one or more antennas. TheRF circuitry may be configured to use the first antenna for BTcommunication. The second conductive plate of the piezoelectric devicemay be positioned adjacent to the front cover of the housing and may beconfigured as a second antenna of the one or more antennas. The RFcircuitry is further configured to use the second antenna for UWBcommunication. In some embodiments, the front cover of the housing mayinclude a conductive material and may be connected directly to thesecond conductive plate of the piezoelectric device. The portabletracker device may further include a UWB switch and a diplexer. The UWBswitch may be configured to receive a UWB feed from the RF circuitry andcreate first and second UWB feeds. The first UWB feed may be provided tothe diplexer and the second UWB feed may be provided to the secondconductive plate of the piezoelectric device. The diplexer may beconfigured to receive a BT feed from the RF circuitry and the first UWBfeed from the UWB switch to thereby create a mixed feed that is providedto the back cover of the housing.

According to some implementations, the portable tracker device mayfurther include a piezoelectric driver in electrical communication withthe first conductive plate and the second conductive plate of thepiezoelectric device. For example, the piezoelectric driver may beconfigured to provide signal pulses for driving the piezoelectricdevice. The portable tracker device may further include a batteryconfigured to provide power to the RF circuitry and the piezoelectricdriver. The portable tracker device may also include first and secondinductors, where the first inductor may be configured to substantiallyisolate RF signals of the first conductive plate from audio signals ofthe piezoelectric driver and the second inductor may be configured tosubstantially isolate RF signals of the second conductive plate from theaudio signals of the piezoelectric driver.

In addition, at least one of the front cover, the back cover, the firstconductive plate, and the second conductive plate, as described above,may be used as the one or more antennas and may further be configuredwithout any dedicated antenna structure. In some embodiments, theportable tracker device may further include feed matching circuitry andshort matching circuitry. The feed matching circuitry may be configuredfor matching BT and UWB frequencies with the one or more antennas andthe short matching circuitry may be configured for matching the one ormore antennas to ground. The portable tracker device may further includefirst and second capacitors. For example, the first capacitor may beconfigured for substantially isolating audio frequency signals of thefirst conductive plate from the short matching circuitry and the secondcapacitor may be configured for substantially isolating audio frequencysignals of the second conductive plate from the feed matching circuitry.

The back cover of the housing may include a conductive material and maybe oriented in parallel with the second conductive plate of thepiezoelectric device to form a Yagi-type antenna. The portable trackerdevice may also include a battery and a battery holder. The battery maybe configured to provide power to the RF circuitry, and the batteryholder may be configured to support the battery and one or more layersof conductive and non-conductive plates separating the battery from theback cover. One or more of the front cover and back cover may include 1)a non-conductive material and 2) a Laser Direct Structuring (LDS)conductive pattern, conductive tape, and/or conductive trace formed onthe non-conductive material. In some embodiments, the portable trackerdevice may also include one or more pogo pins configured to enableelectrical communication between the RF circuitry and the one or moreantennas.

In addition to the portable tracker device described above, the presentdisclosure further provides embodiments of antenna assemblies. In oneembodiment, an antenna assembly may include one or more of a front coverand a back cover of a housing for a portable electronic device. Theantenna assembly may also include one or more of a first conductiveplate and a second conductive plate of a piezoelectric device. In thisembodiment, an RF circuit may be configured to operate within at leastone of a Bluetooth (BT) frequency range and an Ultra-Wideband (UWB)frequency range. Also, the RF circuit may be configured to utilize atleast one of the front cover, the back cover, the first conductiveplate, and the second conductive plate as one or more antennas.According to additional embodiments of this antenna assembly, the backcover of the housing may include a conductive material and may beconfigured as a first antenna of the one or more antennas. The secondconductive plate of the piezoelectric device may be positioned adjacentto the front cover of the housing and may be configured as a secondantenna of the one or more antennas. Also, the RF circuitry may beconfigured to use the first antenna for BT communication and use thesecond antenna for UWB communication.

FIGS. 5A-5C are diagrams illustrating cross-sectional side views ofvarious embodiments of battery holders for supporting the battery 58shown in FIG. 3 and corresponding conductive and non-conductive plates.In some embodiments, the non-conductive plates may be replaced by aspace or gap. Also, the drawings may represent a partially explodedview, in some cases, whereby the adjacent layers, during manufacture,may be positioned in contact with each other.

As shown in FIG. 5A, a battery section 120 (as compared with batterysection 46 shown in FIG. 3 ) includes a battery holder 122, which may benon-conductive (e.g., plastic). The battery 58 may be placed at thebottom of the battery holder 122, as illustrated. In this embodiment,the battery holder 122 may include supports 124 configured to hold theconductive plate 54 a certain distance from the battery 58. Thenon-conductive plate 52 is arranged above the conductive plate 54adjacent to the back cover 44. In this embodiment, the non-conductiveplate 56 is omitted and replaced by a gap formed between the conductiveplate 54 and the battery 58.

As shown in FIG. 5B, a battery section 130 (as compared with batterysection 46 shown in FIG. 3 ) includes a battery holder 132, which may benon-conductive (e.g., plastic). The battery 58 may be placed at thebottom of the battery holder 132, as illustrated. In this embodiment,the battery holder 132 may include first supports 134 and secondsupports 136. The first supports 134 may be configured hold theconductive plate 54 a certain distance from the battery 58. The secondsupports 136 are configured to create a distance between the conductiveplate 54 and the back cover 44. In this embodiment, the non-conductiveplates 52, 56 may be omitted and replaced by gaps formed between theback cover 44, the conductive plate 54, and the battery 58.

As shown in FIG. 5C, a battery section 140 (as compared with batterysection 46 shown in FIG. 3 ) includes a battery holder 142, which may benon-conductive (e.g., plastic). The battery 58 may be placed at thebottom of the battery holder 142, as illustrated. In this embodiment,the battery holder 142 may include supports 143. Also, the batteryholder 142 includes a lid 144, which may include a non-conductive layer146 and a conductive layer 148. For example, the non-conductive layer146 may be built into the battery holder 142 and the conductive layer148 may be a conductive pattern (e.g., LDS), conductive tape (e.g.,copper, aluminum, etc.), etc. A gap may be formed between the conductivelayer 148 and the battery. Also, the supports 143 may be configured tocreate a distance between the lid 144 the back cover 44, if needed. Inthis embodiment, the non-conductive plates 52, 56 may be omitted andreplaced by gaps formed between the back cover 44, the lid 144, and thebattery 58.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating cross-sectional side views ofembodiments of a back cover (as compared with the back cover 44 shown inFIG. 3 ). In FIG. 6A, the back cover 150 is a first embodiment where anon-conductive layer 152 (e.g., non-metallic layer, plastic layer, etc.)has a conductive layer 154 formed on a bottom surface of thenon-conductive layer 152. The conductive layer 154 may be an LDSconductive pattern, conductive tape, copper, aluminum, etc. In thiscase, the non-conductive layer 152 is exposed to the exteriorenvironment.

In FIG. 6B, the back cover 160 is a second embodiment where anon-conductive layer 162 has a conductive layer 164 formed on a topsurface of the non-conductive layer 162. The conductive layer 164 may bean LDS conductive pattern, conductive tape, copper, aluminum, etc., andmay be exposed to the exterior environment. In this embodiment, anaccess area 166 may be formed in the non-conductive layer 162 to provideelectrical access to the electrical components (e.g., BT radio 62, BTfeed matching circuit 76, BT short matching circuit 78, etc.). Asuitable electrical connection (e.g., pogo pins) may be arranged betweenelectrical circuitry and the conductive layer 164 to allow theconductive layer 164 to act as an antenna.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating cross-sectional side views ofembodiments of the front cover 42 and piezoelectric section 50 shown inFIG. 3 . Although the diagram show some of the elements in a partiallyexploded view, the adjacent layers in some embodiments may be arrangedin contact with each other.

In FIG. 7A, the front cover 170 (as compared with the front cover 42shown in FIG. 3 ) may include a conductive material, such as metal, orinclude a layer or pattern of LDS, conductive tape, or other suitableconductive patterns or elements arranged on a non-conductive substrate.In some embodiments, the conductive portion or portions of the frontcover 170 may be arranged in contact with the second conductive plate92, which may be acting as an antenna. In this respect, when theconductive portions of the front cover 170 are in contact with theconductive portions of the second conductive plate 92, the front cover170 may therefore also act as an antenna or portion of this antenna.

In FIG. 7B, the front cover 180 (as compared with the front cover 42shown in FIG. 3 ) may include non-conductive layer 182 (e.g.,non-metallic material, plastic, etc.) and a conductive layer 184 formedon a top surface of the non-conductive layer 182. In this respect, thenon-conductive layer 182 may be exposed to the exterior environment. Theconductive layer 184 may include a conductive material, such as metal,or include a layer or pattern of LDS, conductive tape, or other suitableconductive patterns or elements arranged on the non-conductive substrateof the non-conductive layer 182. In some embodiments, portions of theconductive layer 184 may be arranged in contact with the secondconductive plate 92, which may be acting as an antenna. In this respect,when the conductive layer 184 of the front cover 180 is in contact withthe conductive portions of the second conductive plate 92, the frontcover 180 may therefore also act as an antenna or portion of thisantenna.

FIG. 8A shows the tracking tag 40 shown in FIG. 3 and the correspondingelectrical currents when the UWB antenna of FIG. 4A is in operation. Forexample, the tracking tag 40 may be configured to provide two channelsof UWB operation, such as channel 5 (i.e., frequency range between about6.25 GHz and about 6.75 GHz and centered around 6.50 GHz) and channel 9(i.e., frequency range between about 7.75 GHz and 8.25 GHz and centeredaround 8.00 GHz). Larger arrows in FIG. 8A represent greater currents,while smaller arrows represent lower currents. Dashed arrows representelectric fields (e.g., between piezoelectric plates).

FIG. 8B shows the tracking tag 40 shown in FIG. 3 and the correspondingelectrical currents when the BT antenna of FIG. 4B is in operation. Forexample, the tracking tag 40 may be configured to provide both BT andUWB operation, whereby, when the UWB radio 64 provides dual UWB signals,the UWB switch 86 is configured to send a first set of UWB signals tothe diplexer 84 and send a second set of UWB signals to the UWB feedmatching circuit 80 (for the UWB operation described with respect toFIG. 8A). The first set of UWB signals in this embodiment may combinedwith the BT signals from the BT radio 62 to provide both BT and UWBcommunication with respect to the antenna arrangement of using the backcover 44. Thus, dual band operation includes the BT signals at afrequency of about 2.40 GHz and the UWB signals at channel 5 or channel9 frequencies centered at about 6.5 GHz or 8.0 GHz, respectively.

In some embodiments, one or more metallic spacers (e.g., conductiveplate 54) may act as a reflector to shield the back cover 44 from thebattery 58, which may be lossy. Consequently, much less current isinduced into the battery 58. Again, larger arrows represent greatercurrents, while smaller arrows represent lower currents. The second setof UWB signals may also be configured to operate with the short matchingcircuit 78, which can also provide BT short matching. In someembodiments, however, the short matching circuit 78 may be replaced witha switch to allow for operation with respect to one or more of BT,Wi-Fi, Zigbee, or other protocols. The UWB switch 86, according to someembodiments, may be a UWB diversity switch or an Angle of Arrivalswitch. Alternatively, the UWB radio 64 can have two antenna ports,which may allow the UWB switch 86 to be omitted in some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exploded perspective view of thetracking tag 40. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a partial view of thetracker tag 40 and shows pogo pins 190, 192 for contacting the antennasof the tracking tag 40. In these embodiments, the tracker tag 40 mayinclude a stack-up implementation whereby the pogo pins 190, 192 may beinserted into a non-conductive battery holder (e.g., battery holders120, 130, 140). The pogo pins 190, 192 extend in both direction (e.g.,front and back) and are configured to contact the RF board 60 at ports194, 196, respectively, on one end and contact the back cover 44 atports 198, 200 on the other end. In some embodiments, spring fingers(not shown) may be designed for contact with the front-positioned UWBantenna (e.g., piezoelectric antenna utilizing the second conductiveplate 92) using the second set of UWB signals for feeding (exciting) thesecond conductive plate 92. For example, at UWB (and BT) frequencies,the two plates may be electrically short due to large parasiticcapacitance.

It may be noted that the operation of the tracker tag 40 may includeradiation from the respective antennas in certain patterns. Mostradiation may be due to currents on the edge of the back cover 44. Thecurrents on the outside surface of the back cover 44 may beinsignificant compared to the edges of the back cover 44. With respectto the piezoelectric-based antenna, the current on the second conductiveplate 92 may contribute to the UWB radiation. Most radiation is due tocurrents on the bottom of the metallic plate.

Radiation patterns for BT at 2.4 GHz may be similar to a dipole antennaand/or may be close to an omni-directional antenna with two nulls onopposite sides. The radiation pattern for the first UWB antenna at 6.5GHz (e.g., utilizing the back cover 44) may be similar to a patchantenna (e.g., low front to back radiation, mostly in a direction awayfrom the underside of the back cover 44). The radiation pattern for thesecond UWB antenna at 6.5 GHz (e.g., utilizing the piezoelectric element88) may be similar to a patch antenna (e.g., low front to backradiation, mostly in a direction away from the underside of the secondconductive plate 92).

FIGS. 11 and 12 are diagrams illustrating front views of various partsof the tracking tag 40. The battery holder 120, 130, 140 may be made ofplastic and its features can be used to replace spacers/gaps (e.g.,layers 52, 56) between the battery 58 and the back cover 44. Metallicspacers can be implemented into battery holders 120, 130, 140 using LDS,metallic tape, etc. In some embodiments, these metallic spacers may beincorporated in the edge of the battery holder 120, 130, 140.

The LDS process may use a thermoplastic material, doped with metallicinorganic compounds in an injection molding process. However, instead ofLDS processes, the tracker tag 40 may be a Molded Interconnect Device(MID) manufactured with an injection-molded thermoplastic part havingintegrated electronic circuit traces.

Although the present disclosure has been illustrated and describedherein with reference to various embodiments and examples, it will bereadily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that otherembodiments and examples may perform similar functions, achieve likeresults, and/or provide other advantages. Modifications, additions, oromissions may be made to the systems, apparatuses, and methods describedherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. All equivalent or alternative embodiments that fall withinthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure are contemplated therebyand are intended to be covered by the following claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A portable tracker device comprising: a housinghaving a front cover and a back cover; Radio Frequency (RF) circuitryconfigured to operate within at least one of a Bluetooth (BT) frequencyrange and an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequency range; and a piezoelectricdevice having a first conductive plate and a second conductive plate,wherein the RF circuitry utilizes at least one of the front cover, theback cover, the first conductive plate and the second conductive plateas an antenna.
 22. The portable tracker device of claim 21, wherein thepiezoelectric device further includes a dielectric plate orientedbetween the first and second conductive plates, and wherein thepiezoelectric device is configured as a buzzer or speaker for creatingan audible signal to reveal the location of the portable tracker device.23. The portable tracker device of claim 21, wherein the front cover ofthe housing includes a conductive material and is connected directly tothe second conductive plate of the piezoelectric device.
 24. Theportable tracker device of claim 21, further comprising a UWB switch anda diplexer, wherein the UWB switch is configured to receive a UWB feedfrom the RF circuitry and create first and second UWB feeds, wherein thefirst UWB feed is provided to the diplexer, wherein the second UWB feedis provided to the second conductive plate of the piezoelectric device,and wherein the diplexer is configured to receive a BT feed from the RFcircuitry and the first UWB feed from the UWB switch to thereby create amixed feed that is provided to the back cover of the housing.
 25. Theportable tracker device of claim 21, further comprising a piezoelectricdriver in electrical communication with the first conductive plate andthe second conductive plate of the piezoelectric device, wherein thepiezoelectric driver is configured to provide signal pulses for drivingthe piezoelectric device.
 26. The portable tracker device of claim 25,further comprising a battery configured to provide power to the RFcircuitry and the piezoelectric driver, in which a battery case is usedas a radiating antenna element.
 27. The portable tracker device of claim25, further comprising first and second inductors, wherein the firstinductor is configured to substantially isolate RF signals of the firstconductive plate from audio signals of the piezoelectric driver, andwherein the second inductor is configured to substantially isolate RFsignals of the second conductive plate from the audio signals of thepiezoelectric driver.
 28. The portable tracker device of claim 21,wherein at least one of the front cover, the back cover, the firstconductive plate, and the second conductive plate used as the one ormore antennas is configured without any dedicated antenna structure. 29.The portable tracker device of claim 21, further comprising feedmatching circuitry and short matching circuitry, wherein the feedmatching circuitry is configured for matching BT and UWB frequencieswith the one or more antennas, and wherein the short matching circuitryis configured for matching the one or more antennas to ground.
 30. Theportable tracker device of claim 29, further comprising first and secondcapacitors, wherein the first capacitor is configured for substantiallyisolating audio frequency signals of the first conductive plate from theshort matching circuitry, and wherein the second capacitor is configuredfor substantially isolating audio frequency signals of the secondconductive plate from the feed matching circuitry.
 31. The portabletracker device of claim 21, wherein the back cover of the housingincludes a conductive material and is oriented in parallel with thesecond conductive plate of the piezoelectric device to form a Yagi-typeantenna.
 32. The portable tracker device of claim 21, further comprisinga battery and a battery holder, wherein the battery is configured toprovide power to the RF circuitry, and wherein the battery holder isconfigured to support the battery and one or more layers of conductiveand non-conductive plates separating the battery from the back cover.33. The portable tracker device of claim 21, wherein one or more of thefront cover and back cover includes: a non-conductive material; and oneor more of a Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) conductive pattern,conductive tape, and conductive trace formed on the non-conductivematerial.
 34. The portable tracker device of claim 21, furthercomprising one or more pogo pins or spring clips configured to enableelectrical communication between the RF circuitry and the one or moreantennas.
 35. The portable tracker device of claim 21, wherein both thefront cover and the back cover are metallic, in which one or more of thecovers serves as the one or more antennas.
 36. The portable tracker ofdevice of claim 21, wherein one of the front cover and the back coveroperates as a BT antenna and the other as a UWB antenna.
 37. An antennaassembly comprising: one or more of a front cover and a back cover of ahousing of a portable electronic device; and one or more of a firstconductive plate and a second conductive plate of a piezoelectricdevice; wherein a Radio Frequency (RF) circuit, configured to operatewithin at least one of a Bluetooth (BT) frequency range and anUltra-Wideband (UWB) frequency range, utilizes at least one of the frontcover, the back cover, the first conductive plate, and the secondconductive plate as one or more antennas.
 38. A locating systemcomprising: one or more tracker tags; and one or more searching devices;wherein each of the one or more tracker tags includes a housing having afront cover and a back cover, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry configuredto operate within at least one of a Bluetooth (BT) frequency range andan Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequency range, and a piezoelectric devicehaving a first conductive plate and a second conductive plate, whereinthe RF circuitry utilizes at least one of the front cover, the backcover, the first conductive plate, and the second conductive plate asone or more antennas, and wherein each of the one or more searchingdevices is configured to locate the one or more tracker tags using oneor more of BT communication and UWB communication with the one or moretracker tags.